for eternity
by thir13enth
Summary: Oneshot. One of Sasuke's childhood friends was fatally injured. Sasuke has a chance to see his friend and say one last goodbye.


**My first Naruto fanfic, but not the first one I have been working on. This is actually my second ever Naruto fanfic; the other is still in the computer. But whatever, my Naruto debut.

* * *

**

It was the break of dawn when Naruto came back to camp, carrying a wounded person over his shoulder. When Sakura and Sasuke looked up, he lay the wounded carefully down on the ground and explained, "She was calling help and I found her. She's…really injured." Naruto was at loss for words. He hoped that they would understand.

Sakura forgot about what she was doing and stood, seeing all the opportunities laid out in front of her. She could finally put her medical studying to use! She could really save a person's life! And what an accomplishment that would be! And maybe, this accomplishment would help her win _him_. So Sakura straight away commenced to tend the poor girl's wounds.

But Sasuke stood for another reason. He looked behind all the blood and deep gashes. He looked behind the burns spotted on her arms.

And he remembered.

He kneeled down by Sakura and held the wounded female's weak wrist. He didn't care for what Naruto or Sakura thought. He concentrated on the female's face and said, "Hoshi." He didn't use any voice to say her name; he only used the wind coming out of his mouth, and her name was a deadly low whisper.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke's face. But she couldn't read it.

So he knew this girl.

Sakura looked at her. Her body was mutated, especially around the waist and her legs were covered in angry red welshes. Her arms were spotted in curious burns. Blood soaked into the ground at a horribly fast rate. Then Sakura looked at the stranger's silky black hair, and milky white face, which was the only part of her body untouched of wounds. The female had a calm expression on her face, but her eyebrows were furrowed in intense pain. Her breathing was abrupt and forced.

She was beautiful.

But she would die.

Sakura knew that the wounds were beyond help and she looked up at Naruto, who was still standing. Then she looked back at Sasuke, still waiting for the girl's reply. She looked back at Naruto. They talked to each other with their eyes and Naruto silently walked off, beckoning Sakura to come.

They would give Sasuke his time,

"Hoshi," Sasuke tried again.

The girl's eyes opened and her amber eyes looked in his direction, but her eyes did not focus on him.

"Who…who is this?" Her cracked, dehydrated lips opened, but her voice was still clear, though it came out small and private for only his ears to hear.

"Watashi wa Uchiha desu. Uchiha Sasuke desu!" He was patient with her. Would she still remember him? _I am Uchiha! Sasuke Uchiha!

* * *

_

_Hoshi was hanging out with her friends when one of them pointed out someone with her eyes. The rest of them turned their heads and looked around, finally focusing on a lonely kid sitting up in a tree. They turned their heads away._

_"There's that Uchiha kid again. He's so weird," said the girl who first had pointed him out._

_"And ugly," someone else threw in._

_But Hoshi said nothing and only listened to her friends degrading remarks._

_"Mother's boy."_

_This wasn't the first time that Hoshi had heard insults to Uchiha._

_She looked back at him. Uchiha would rarely come outside to play, and when he did, he wouldn't do anything but sit up in the tree. No one else went up that tree, or even touched it; they shunned him so much._

_Hoshi and everyone in the village knew that Uchiha was a failure to his family. His brother, Itachi, was the one everyone loved. And every girl had a crush on him._

_The younger brother was the complete opposite. To put it short, he was a failure, an _ugly _failure. Okay, okay, he wasn't ugly, but he wasn't handsome either._

_Hoshi saw some of the older kids throw rocks up at him. Uchiha didn't even try to shield himself._

_"Don't talk like that," Hoshi finally said to her friends. "Just look at him."_

_Rocks missed him, but when they didn't, Uchiha just ignored pain. He was as still as a dummy, staring out into the distance._

_"So what if they're throwing rocks at him?" one of her friends said._

_Hoshi was going to be silent like always about Uchiha. But today she decided to defend him. He already had enough offense. In her mind, _no one _deserved offense._

_"Isn't he just one of us? Why do we pick on him so much?"_

_Her friends' laughter stopped._

_"He is very strange," one of them replied gravely. And the others nodded in agreement._

_"Not really," Hoshi said._

_"Are you sure?" another one said._

_"I guess," Hoshi said, unsure. She suddenly regretted defending Uchiha. _

_"Well…why don't you go see for yourself?" her friend said._

_"Thanks, I will," Hoshi started to head toward the tree where Uchiha was. She felt a sudden burst of confidence._

_"No! Hoshi, no! I didn't mean it! Come back!" her friend quickly corrected._

_"Come back!" the rest of her friends called._

_Hoshi ignored them. The older boys throwing rocks at Uchiha stopped and stared when Hoshi reached the tree. She looked up and took a quick breath before climbing it._

_The older boys jeered at her. "You pretty girl! Don't waste your energy on that hopeless boy!"_

_Hoshi ignored them and saw her friends staring in the distance, in fright. She looked up at Uchiha, who didn't even seem to notice someone was climbing his tree._

_The whole village's children grew silent when Hoshi hoisted herself onto the limb where he sat. She sat on the edge of the limb and it rocked up and down gently when she sat down._

_Now Uchiha noticed and just stared in fright. No one ever came up here. No one ever smiled at him…_

_Hoshi's smiling face greeted him first. And then she stuck out her right hand. "I'm Hoshi Edo. And you?"_

_Uchiha stared at the outstretched hand. "U…Uchiha." _

_Hoshi decided to take back her hand. He wasn't going to take it. "I know that. What's your full name?"_

_"Uchiha Sasuke desu," Sasuke back up a little. Was she here to taunt him?_

_"Oh yeah?" Hoshi thought a bit. "How old are you?"_

_"Eight," Sasuke answered. He was feeling himself get more comfortable talking to her. But he decided not to look at the rest of the village children._

_"Well, I'm seven," Hoshi said this, but in reality, she felt much older than Sasuke. He really was helpless._

_Silence followed. The two were in deep thought, misbelieve, and their nerves were wearing out. Both felt like running home._

_Hoshi thought. Oh well, she was here, what could he do about it? She took a deep breath and said, "Okay then, Sasuke Uchiha, do you want to play a game?"_

_It felt like the world ended for Sasuke. He began to fidget. Why didn't he just ignore her in the first place?_

_"No," Sasuke said._

_"Why not?" Hoshi asked, feeling like a failure now._

_"I…I don't know you."_

_"Of course you do! You know my name! And if you have forgotten, here it is again! Hoshi Edo!" she said. Hoshi felt that her mission was complete and she jumped down to the ground. "Come on!" she beckoned him._

_Sasuke thought. This was ridiculous! A seven year old guiding an eight year old around? He glanced at all the village children who were watching him. Their expressions showed only shock. Sasuke looked back at Hoshi's smiling face._

_He bit his lip and sighed. Then, in a quick motion, he jumped down from the tree and followed her._

_They walked off like nothing ever happened._

_The rest of the children, short-minded, just returned to what they were doing.

* * *

_

Hoshi remembered immediately. When she heard his name, she almost instantly seemed more alive. "Ten years," she said.

"Ten years," Sasuke repeated.

Hoshi smiled.

"What happened, Hoshi?"

She continued to smile, and said nothing.

* * *

_The next day, Sasuke found himself in the middle of boys his own age. He instantly knew they were going to bully him. He gave up, but mentally, he was looking for ways out._

_"Hello _Sasuke _Uchiha."_

_Sasuke realized that he couldn't forget yesterday, and that yesterday really did happen, with Hoshi up the tree, and them playing catch right after she greeted him. He suddenly remembered that the whole village had seen them._

_"Who's your new friend?"_

_"Do you even remember her name?"_

_They snickered evilly._

_"Hey!" a shrill female voice called._

_All of them turned their heads._

_"Leave Sasuke alone!" Hoshi ran toward them._

_Suddenly the boys ganging up on Sasuke changed attitudes. Some of them fixed their hair quickly or pulled their shirts down in a neat way. Sasuke saw them and suddenly remembered that Hoshi was one of the most beautiful girls in the village. He knew, from all his years of staring out from the tree._

_What would she want with him? He knew himself that he wasn't handsome. If he was, he wouldn't have been alone on the tree all that time._

_He wouldn't have been a failure._

_"Oh no, we were just talking to him," one of them said._

_"Sure," Hoshi said, not believing a thing. Then she grabbed Sasuke's forearm and pulled him out of the ring of bullies. "Come on, Sasuke. There are better things to do than talking with _those _idiots." She smiled at him, and Sasuke shyly smiled back. He saw the boys' faces go red behind them._

_She led him to a wide area in another part of the village where almost no one played. She poked him, "You're It." Then she ran off._

_Sasuke almost hadn't noticed until she began running. He ran after her, in his slow speed but was surprised when he saw how fast Hoshi could run._

_He increased speed and didn't take his eyes off her. She dodged between homes but he was trailing so close to her that he never lost sight of her._

_Finally, he decided to just end the chase. He put maximum speed and tackled her. The two went flying down. Sasuke stood and helped her up, but she refused his help, and stood up herself._

_"Why did you defend me?" he asked._

_Hoshi furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm your friend. What else are friends for?"_

_"You…you're my friend?" Sasuke asked, shocked._

_"What did you think I was? Your sister?" Hoshi said. "Besides, you're fun."_

_Sasuke was speechless. He had never had a friend before. And now this random girl comes out of nowhere and becomes his friend!_

_After the pause, Hoshi returned to her playful mood. She poked him, "Now you're It again!"

* * *

_

"Are you handsome yet?" Hoshi asked, grinning more broadly.

Sasuke suddenly remembered their 'greeting ritual'. He smiled and said, "Do you think I am?"

Hoshi's smile disappeared. "I'm blind now, Sasuke. Can't you tell?"

* * *

_Sasuke and Hoshi were resting after the day of running around, playing It. They decided, or rather, Hoshi decided to go up in the tree. She selected a spot and Sasuke sat on the same limb as he usually did. Hoshi was a limb lower than him._

_A group of the older boys came along. Sasuke recognized some of them._

_They were throwing rocks at him._

_"Hi, whore!" they greeted Hoshi, and just walked on by._

_Sasuke had heard that word before. He wasn't sure what it meant but he was sure it meant something bad._

_Hoshi stood up on her limb. She was angry. _

_Obviously she knew what a whore was. Sasuke would ask her later. But he just watched her angry eyes and furrowed eyebrows from above._

_Heh…she looked cute when she was angry._

_"What did you call me?" she shouted._

_The boys stopped and some of them laughed. The leader of them answered, "A whore."_

_"Why am I a whore?" Hoshi asked._

_"Why else would you be hanging out with ugly Uchiha kid?" he pointed up at Sasuke, and Sasuke shied away from their glares._

_Hoshi looked up at Sasuke, and was confused. But then she answered, "He's my friend!"_

_But the ones taunting her just walked off and continued to laugh._

_Hoshi looked up at Sasuke and frowned. She climbed up to his limb and sat on the edge of it, just like yesterday._

_"Why aren't you handsome?" Hoshi asked._

_Sasuke was a little hurt by this question. "I don't know…"_

_Hoshi seemed to ponder over that question. She knew the answer was because he was born like that, but maybe there was a way out of ugliness. _

_"Hoshi…" he called. Sasuke felt his tongue pronounce her name. He had never called it before._

_Hoshi didn't seem affected by this first-time-calling-of-her-name. She answered, "Are you handsome yet?" She had a slight grin on her face._

_Sasuke smiled slightly. "What's a whore?"_

_Hoshi's face flushed. "I…I don't know. But I know it's not a good thing."_

_"Oh," Sasuke looked down. Why would a seven year old know something that an eight year old didn't know?_

_After a while, Sasuke felt uncomfortable._

_"Hoshi?" he asked._

_"Are you handsome yet?"_

_He smiled and said, "Do you want to go play a game?"

* * *

_

Sasuke was in shock of this news. Blind? But how? And then he saw her unfocused eyes, though they moved and blinked. The amber eyes seemed to not be looking at anything. The amber eyes didn't see like they had before...ten years ago.

Then he realized. Hoshi would never be able to see him now. She only saw him as that young eight year old who was still ugly.

Sasuke knew that he had changed appearance over the years. Probably starting from age twelve. He had gone from a complete loner, to every girl's crush.

If only she could see him now.

Sasuke suddenly was depressed. In her eyes, he would always remain that way, the ugly boy.

"But you're beautiful," Sasuke said. Then he added, "Still."

"Everyone says that…I never believed them…" Hoshi's voiced trailed off. "I'm going to see how you look now, okay?"

"But you're blind," he reminded her.

"Doesn't mean I have lost my other senses," Hoshi retorted. "Stay still, and lean down so I could reach you," she commanded.

Sasuke did so, and was surprised when she lifted both hands and touched his chest.

"Oh sorry," she blushed lightly in her mistake. Her fingertips moved upward to his neck, and continued past jaw, still moving upward. Sasuke closed his eyes, and enjoyed the tickling sensation.

Hoshi's fingertips stopped at his forehead. She rubbed her right hand along the metal of the forehead protector.

She smiled, "You passed the exams."

Then Hoshi ran her fingers through his hair. "You still have the same hair." She continued, and Sasuke felt his eyelids being touched. Hoshi's fingers stopped. "What color are your eyes?"

"Black."

"Still," Hoshi smiled and traced his nose, and his lips. Sasuke parted his lips slightly at her caress. When reaching his chin, her hands separated each one tracing one side of his jaw line.

Then she traveled her hands down his neck and stopped at the collarbone. Her right hand continued along his shoulder and down his arm. She felt his biceps. "You're strong and skinny…still."

Hoshi finally found his hand, and put them together. "Whose hand is larger?"

Sasuke forced himself to open his eyes. Her hand was smaller than his by at least a half inch. "My own," he replied.

Hoshi smiled, "So you _have _changed…how much larger?"

"Not to much," Sasuke said.

Her hands traced back to his jaw. She paused, thinking a bit. And then she pulled him in.

Sasuke saw her lips and for a wild moment, knew she was going to kiss him. His eyes widened and his senses opened up.

Hoshi pulled him even closer.

But just when their lips would make contact, Hoshi missed and her face went into his neck.

Sasuke was, for a second, embarrassed. But she didn't move from his neck.

"You still smell the same," she said, pushing him away.

Sasuke blushed madly. He was the one who had made a mistake. Why would Hoshi kiss him? He was only a friend to her. He was sullen at knowledge of this. But he refocused his mind. He would never have her; he had to stop dreaming.

"Since when do you know how I smell?" Sasuke asked.

Hoshi laughed once, and took her hands back. "Since we got married."

* * *

_He waited for her, watching for her up in the tree. Hoshi and he had been friends for over three months now. She had given him a lot of happiness. _

_He had to return it._

_He looked through the crowd of children, and finally singled out one of them._

_"Hoshi!" he called out._

_"Are you handsome yet?" a voice called out. _

_She had heard him._

_Sasuke waited for Hoshi to come to the tree. Once she reached the tree, Sasuke leaped off and landed next to her._

_"I've found a new place! Do you want to go see it?" Sasuke asked._

_Hoshi immediately agreed. "Okay then, Sasuke Uchiha, lead the way!"_

_Sasuke smiled and led her some distance out of the village. The village was still in sight, but they weren't in it. Sasuke led her to the edge of a brook._

_Hoshi took one glance and then looked wide-eyed back at Sasuke. She stared a little longer at the scene; her eyes sparkled like her name. Star, her name was._

_The brook's water was clear and splashed happily, tripping over rocks gaily. Wild flowers were scattered about and the grass was a fresh soft green. The trees overhead made a cool shade against the bright sun._

_"It's so beautiful, Sasuke! How did you ever find such a place?"_

_Sasuke shrugged. But he mentally smiled when he knew she was happy._

_Repayment._

_Hoshi sat down and Sasuke joined her. Hoshi was busying herself with observing the new grass. Sasuke just watched her, silent and studious._

_Hoshi got bored after a while, and said, "Let's do something fun." She thought for a while. Her face lit up when she got an idea. "I know, we'll get married!"_

_Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. He thought for a while, but gave up. "What's getting married?"_

_Hoshi's face depressed. "I'm not sure."_

_"Is it fun?" he suggested._

_Hoshi nodded wildly. "Some people think it's fun."_

_Sasuke shrugged. "Okay then, let's get married!"_

_Silence followed._

_"…What do you do?" Sasuke asked._

_Hoshi was already in deep thought. "I think I'm supposed to give you something really special…" She thought and searched on herself for anything special. Finally, she loosened the ribbon in her hair and offered it to him._

_Sasuke shook his head. "I don't think it's that way…I think _I _have to give you something." Sasuke searched his pockets and found a smooth rock. Well that was pretty special. He held it out._

_"No, _I _give you something!" Hoshi argued._

_"No…_I'm _supposed to give you something."_

_"Well take my ribbon! I already took it out!"_

_"It takes effort to take something out of a pocket as well!" That didn't sound too convincing, but it made Hoshi think again._

_"We'll both give something," she compromised._

_And so they swapped possessions._

_They stared for a while at their presented items. Sasuke looked up and broke the silence. "Now what"_

_Hoshi concentrated and then answered. "Then we kiss."_

_Sasuke's mind boggled. "What's that?"_

_"I…I don't know."_

_Sasuke suddenly knew. He finally knew something that Hoshi didn't know! He stood. "Here, stand up." He offered his hand to help her up._

_Hoshi rejected it like always. "Okay…"_

_"Like this," Sasuke said. He loosely embraced her, and paused, aiming his mouth. Their lips made contact for a while. But then they both withdrew and were disappointed._

_They were both thinking the same thing, but Hoshi was quicker to speak._

_"That wasn't fun at all," she said._

_Sasuke agreed._

_Hoshi glanced thoughtfully at the water. She smiled and, scooping up some of the cool water, she threw it out to him. The water splashed on his face and shirt._

_Sasuke was quick enough to splash her back before she ran off.

* * *

_

Sasuke remembered and blushed again. They had not known the concepts in adulthood. Sasuke had forgotten what the kiss with her was like long before he understood the concepts of love. Long before he realized. He wished he still remembered.

"You're blushing," she said.

"How are you so sure about that?" Sasuke blushed even more.

Hoshi smiled. "Whenever you freeze up and become quiet like that, you always blush."

"Hmph," Sasuke shrugged.

Hoshi reached her right hand up. She missed again and touched his lips instead of his cheeks. "Sorry," Hoshi apologized. She moved to his check and smiled when she felt the excess heat. "Told you."

Sasuke still felt her fingers on his lips. There was a strange sensation that didn't die off even after she took her hand back.

"Childhood stupidity," Sasuke said.

Hoshi laughed. "We didn't know love." Then her face pained and she coughed in a more forceful way than normal.

Sasuke looked at her, concerned and realized her wounds, how deep they were, how much redder the ground seemed.

"This time, you're not blushing," she said.

Sasuke sighed. Something clogged his throat. "You're dying," he said out quickly. "You're leaving again."

* * *

_Hoshi seemed to be avoiding him the whole day so far. Sasuke kept calling her name, but she never heard, never replied, 'Are you handsome yet?'_

_Hoshi just talked to her friends the whole day._

_Sasuke was about to go back home, but Hoshi started climbing up the tree and so he decided to stay._

_Her face was solemn today._

_"What happened?" Sasuke asked._

_"Sasuke…our family is moving."_

_Sasuke took the information in very slowly. Hoshi would be gone…his first and only friend…_

_They would start to taunt him again._

_No._

_"Promise me something," she said._

_Sasuke nodded. She had never asked him to do anything for her. In the seven months they had been friends, this was his first favor for her._

_"Promise me this. Watashitachi wa eyonoi yooni no tame no yomoyo dearu," she said. _Friends for eternity.

_Sasuke nodded, "Watashitachi wa eyonoi yooni no tame no yomoyo dearu."_

_He suddenly felt water run down his cheeks. He hid the tears quickly, wishing them to go away._

_"Don't cry, Sasuke," she said. "We'll see each other again, I _promise _you."_

_Then Hoshi jumped down and left.

* * *

_

Hoshi's blind amber eyes glazed over. She blinked and crystal tear drops trailed down her cheeks.

"You kept your promise," Sasuke said, swallowing his lump of grief in this throat.

She answered completely off topic. "It was been a good seventeen years of life."

Sasuke breathed in and out once quickly and his hand began to shake.

Hoshi's tears kept dripping, and she shook her head and closed her eyes. "Don't cry, Sasuke, okay? Promise me something?"

His first friend's death wish. Hoshi, the one who treated him as an equal even if he was shunned. She cared for him more than his family cared for him.

She was dying.

He would truly never have her.

"Okay," and Sasuke felt hot tears run off his chin and drip onto her arm.

"Watashitachi wa eyonoi yooni no tame no yomoyo dearu…" her voice was dying out.

He shook his head privately. What he really wanted to say…what he _really _wanted to say was 'I love you'. But he put that aside and granted her death wish.

"Watashitachi wa eyonoi yooni no tame no yomoyo dearu," he replied.

Hoshi smiled and her arm went limp in his hands.

* * *

**So how was it? Correct my English if it's wrong; English is not my primary or secondary language, or even thirdary language, but you're required to learn it in Japan so I'm pretty confident. But back to the point, I really don't care for critics, so if my story sucks, say it sucks. I need to learn to write better; always room for more improvements. Don't be afraid! And if my story is good, I'd like to hear that too.**

**Thanks all!**

**Midori Fujiwara**


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